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audience - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English audience, from Middle French audience, from Old French audience, from Latin audientia, from present participle audiens (“hearing”), from verb audio (“I hear”). Doublet of audiencia.

audience (plural audiences)

  1. A group of people within hearing; specifically, a large gathering of people listening to or watching a performance, speech, etc. [from 15th c.]

    We joined the audience just as the lights went down.

    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 26:

      One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”  He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.

    • 1952 February, H. C. Casserley, “Permanent Wayfarings”, in Railway Magazine, page 77:

      My audience to this not-too-easy operation was a small group of Scottish school lasses, who seemed (perhaps naturally) to find the proceedings somewhat mysterious, but at any rate amusing. I wished they would go away, but they didn't, so I had to get on with the job to the accompaniment of a background of giggles!

  2. (now rare) Hearing; the condition or state of hearing or listening. [from 14th c.]
  3. A widespread or nationwide viewing or listening public, as of a TV or radio network or program.
  5. A formal meeting with a state or religious dignitary. [from 16th c.]

    She managed to get an audience with the Pope.

    • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:

      Captain Anderson: Sounds like you convinced the Council to give us an audience.
      Ambassador Udina: They were not happy about it. Saren's their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason.

  6. The readership of a book or other written publication. [from 19th c.]

    "Private Eye" has a small but faithful audience.

  7. A following. [from 20th c.]

    The opera singer expanded his audience by singing songs from the shows.

  8. (historical) An audiencia (judicial court of the Spanish empire), or the territory administered by it.
  • In some lects, audience is used as a plurale tantum.
    The audience are getting restless.

group of people seeing a performance

readership of a written publication

formal meeting with a dignitary

following

Translations to be checked

Inherited from Old French audience, borrowed from Latin audientia, from present participle audiēns (“hearing”), from verb audiō (“to hear”).

audience f (plural audiences)

  1. audience, viewer
    Synonyms: attention, entretien, séance
  2. (court) hearing

Borrowed from English audience, from Latin audientia, derived from audiēns, present active participle of audiō (“to hear, listen to”).

audience f (uncountable)

  1. audience (widespread or nationwide viewing or listening public)
  1. ^ audience in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)